Travel Journal: Cyclone Yasi

Having suffered the devastating floods, Queensland faces yet another disaster. Cyclone Yasi is about to hit the North Queensland coast, predicted as the most severe cyclone every to hit the Australian coast. Yet again we have been glued to the telly watching where the 500km wide Yasi is going to hit.

Over night the system has headed toward Townsville and so down here in Brisbane we will not get such severe fall out storms as earlier predicted. Military flights spent all day yesterday evacuating the northern areas of the state. Mandatory evacuations are in place but it has been announce evacuation centres are full, flights have now stopped and whoever is left must get as far from the coast as possible and bunker down in the safest place they can find. The window to leave has now ended the people of Northern Queensland are now on there own.

The flooding is frightening, cyclones are terrifying. I guess I’m thankful for the flooding, without it I would have continued my travel North I would be in North Queensland, I would be exactly where the category 5 cyclone is about to hit. The force of this cyclone is so great its effects may be felt as far inland as Alice Springs. That’s a a different state, that’s insane.